1. The Eleni P– Owners Denied Hire from Hijacked Vessel
2. ICS Function
3. BIMCO and INTERTANKO Publish Q&As for Scrubber-Fitted Ships
4. Building a Dutch Railway Bridge in 72 Hours
5. Whaling–a Posse of Lies and Incomprehension
6. People and Places
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1. The Eleni P– Owners Denied Hire from Hijacked Vessel
Eurof Lloyd-Lewis and Emma Skakle, writing in the latest update of
the firm’s Insight publication, report on Eleni Shipping Limited v Transgrain
Shipping BV (“The ELENI P”) [2019] EWHC 910 (Comm) which was
an appeal from an arbitration award, pursuant to s.69 of the Arbitration
Act 1996, over the correct construction of two additional typewritten
clauses, Clauses 49 and 101, in a time charter on an amended NYPE 1946
form
The Commercial Court dismissed a shipowners’ claim for hire exceeding
USD 4.5 million in respect of a period of seven months during which
their vessel “The ELENI P” was detained by Somali pirates
in the Arabian Sea. In reaching its decision the Court applied fundamental
principles of contractual construction in a time charter context. Clyde
& Co acted for the successful charterers/defendants.
The Tribunal had rejected the Owners’ claim on the basis that hire was
excluded by each of the two clauses.
Read the full note here:-
https://www.clydeco.com/insight/article/the-eleni-p-owners-denied-hire-from-hijacked-vessel?
2. ICS Function
Jeffrey Blum writes:-
The London & South East Branch of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers
will be holding another Networking Drinks event next Thursday 30th May
from 18:00 at the “Revolution Bar” at 140-144 Leadenhall Street,
EC3V 4QT. The first drink (beers or wine) will be provided by the Branch
(until the tab expires), as will some food, so please send a message
to the Branch Secretary, Mike Harrison for catering purposes.
This is another splendid opportunity to support the branch and to learn
more about the Institute, professional qualifications and other opportunities
within our varied maritime industry. See you there !
3. BIMCO and INTERTANKO Publish Q&As for Scrubber-Fitted Ships
BIMCO and INTERTANKO have jointly published Q&As addressing the
contractual implications owners and charterers should keep in mind when
chartering ships fitted with scrubbers. The Q&As highlight the key
charter party clauses and concepts which should be reviewed for both
time and voyage charter parties.
The Q&As consist of three parts. The first part deals with the
implications of using scrubber-fitted ships under time charter parties,
the second part deals with voyage charter parties and the third part
addresses general considerations such as enforcement, fines and prohibition
of open-loop scrubbers.
The main focus is on time charter parties as it is expected that this
is where the use of a scrubber will have the greatest impact.
BIMCO and INTERTANKO have individually published clauses addressing
the coming into force of MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 14 and 18 dealing
with the reduction of sulphur oxide emissions from the current 3.50%
m/m to 0.5% m/m. However, these clauses do not deal with the special
operational, technical and commercial requirements of scrubbers installed
on ships.
In early 2019, a BIMCO and INTERTANKO working group discussed whether
there was a need for a dedicated “scrubber clause”. The working
group concluded that, for the time being, no “scrubber clause”
should be published. This is because the scrubber is, once installed,
a “normal” piece of equipment and does not require any special
status or special legal regime. The existing standard clauses (such
as off-hire, drydocking and maintenance) will work in a time charter
context in cases when the scrubber is not working.
The Q&A document is available to download from the BIMCO and INTERTANKO
websites:
https://www.bimco.org/BIMCO-INTERTANKO-Scrubber-Q
https://www.intertanko.com/info-centre/intertanko-guidance
For further information please contact:
Grant Hunter, Head of Contracts and Clauses, BIMCO – contracts@bimco.org
Michele White, General Counsel, INTERTANKO – michele.white@intertanko.com
4. Building a Dutch Railway Bridge in 72 Hours
A time lapse film of about one minute’s length
5. Whaling–a Posse of Lies and Incomprehension
Courtesy of the Browser we read of the role of whaling in the Soviet
Unions’s five year plans. This led to escalating demands for whale meat
and a degree of mendacity which was breathtaking. A sobering tale also
about the International Whaling Commissions ineffectual work for many
years. A must read.
6. People and Places
London
Research carried out by the HFW law firm analysing data from 13 major
maritime institutions around the world, has found that London accounts
for more than 80 percent of global maritime activity. London handled
approximately 1,500 maritime arbitrations in 2017, compared to around
140 in Singapore and just over 100 in Hong Kong.
In addition, English law is the most commonly chosen law in arbitrations
globally across all sectors, including maritime arbitrations. English
law was the applicable law in 85 percent of all LCIA arbitrations in
2017.
Craig Neame says: “There has been a lot of debate about whether
London will lose business as a result of Brexit. Our research clearly
shows that, when it comes to shipping disputes, London is still the
clear market leader, and we see nothing to suggest that will change
in the foreseeable future. Singapore and Hong Kong will continue to
be attractive to companies operating in Asia, and Dubai and the Nordic
countries will develop a larger arbitration caseload once EMAC and NOMA
become more established. But English law will remain a popular choice
among those in the shipping industry and we expect London to continue
to attract most maritime arbitrations.”
Click here to read the full report:-
———-
Rob Grool is taking over the leadership of ZEABORN Ship Management
from Holger Strack, who has been acting as the company’s interim
CEO since the beginning of the year.
In the course of a career spanning 39 years, Rob Grool learned the
ropes in the ship management sector from scratch. After graduating as
a Master of Science in Maritime and Transport Technology from Delft
University of Technology in the Netherlands, Rob embarked on an international
career as a marine engineer, eventually holding executive positions
as managing director and board member of renowned companies across the
globe.
https://www.zea-ship.com/data/Rob_Grool_CEO_ZEABORN_Ship_Management.jpg
———-
Denis Petropoulos has been elected Chairman of the Baltic Exchange
Council with effect from 1 June 2019. He replaces Duncan Dunn who has
held the position since January 2018. Denis Petropoulos was a founding
partner of Braemar Tankers Ltd and remains a significant shareholder
at Braemar Shipping Services PLC. He most recently headed up Braemar’s
Singapore office for seven years, before returning to the UK.
He has been a Baltic Exchange Member since 1999 and has held positions
on the Baltic board 2002-2007 and joined the Council in January 2019.
———-
Sadan Kaptanoglu, managing director of HI Kaptanoglu Shipping, was
elected President of BIMCO – the world’s largest shipping
association – at its General Meeting in Athens on Tuesday 14 May.
Kaptanoglu, who is a Turkish shipowner, takes over from Greek shipowner,
Anastasios Papagiannopoulos, Principal of Common Progress, who has completed
his two-year term as President.
As President, Kaptanoglu will steer BIMCO through the industry’s
transition to low sulphur fuel and must set the direction for BIMCO’s
approach to short and longer term measures to bring down the world fleet’s
greenhouse gas emissions – and as part of that, ensure a level
playing field is retained for shipping.
Kaptanoglu takes over after a two-year period as President Designate
and will be the first female President of BIMCO.
Sabrina Chao of Wah Kwong in Hong Kong was elected as President Designate
and joins the Board of Directors.
The Avo Archive
The website of this newsletter contains all the editorial material
since the inception of the Maritime Advocate as a print based quarterly
in 1997 under the founding aegis of John Guy, Chris Hewer and Manfred
Arnold. Readers can go to the site and search the database on the home
page in its entirety. If you are looking for an old case, an old controversy
or you would just like to see how many times you and your firm have
featured in our annals feel free to access the archive. It is like this
e-zine, free to Readers and we always appreciate the support of advertisers
and sponsors.
Work is underway to lodge the Archive within a new site for this publication.
Country Wise
A big-city lawyer was representing the railroad in a lawsuit filed
by an old rancher. The rancher’s prize bull was missing from the section
through which the railroad passed. The rancher claimed that the bull
must have been hit by the train, and wanted to be paid the fair value
of the bull.
The case was scheduled to be tried before the justice of the peace
in the back room of the general store.
As soon as the rancher showed up, the attorney for the railroad pulled
him aside and tried to get him to settle out of court. The lawyer did
his best selling job, and finally the rancher agreed to take half of
what he was asking.
After the rancher had signed the release and took the check, the young
lawyer couldn’t resist gloating a little over his success, telling the
rancher, “You know, I hate to tell you this, old man, but I put
one over on you in there. I couldn’t have won the case. The engineer
was asleep and the fireman was in the caboose when the train went through
your ranch that morning. I didn’t have one witness to put on the stand.
I bluffed you!
The old rancher replied, “Well, I’ll tell you, young feller, I
was a little worried about winning that case myself, because that darned
bull came home this morning.”
Animal Spirits
Mrs. Davidson’s dishwasher quit working so she calls a repairman. Since
she has to go to work the next day, she tells him, “I’ll leave
the key under the mat. Fix the dish-washer, leave the bill on the counter,
and I’ll mail you the check. Oh, by the way, don’t worry about my Bull
Dog; he won’t bother you. But, whatever you do, do NOT, under ANY circumstances,
talk to my parrot!”
When the repairman arrives at Mrs. Davidson’s apartment the next day,
he discovers the biggest and meanest Bull Dog he has ever seen. But
just as she said, the dog just lay there on the carpet watching the
repairman go about his business.
The Parrot, however, drove him nuts the whole time with his incessant
yelling, cursing, and name-calling.
Finally the repairman couldn’t contain himself any longer and yelled,
“Shut up, you stupid ugly bird!”
To which the parrot replied, “Get him, Spike!”
[Paul dixon]
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